March 28, 2009

Final Stats | Highlights

FORT WORTH, Texas - The No. 16 TCU Horned Frogs used a five-run fifth inning to take control of the game as they evened the series against San Diego State with an 8-5 victory. Bryan Holaday connected for his third home run of the season in the fifth to break a 4-4 tie and Trent Appleby tossed five innings of relief to guide the Frogs to victory. Taylor Featherston and Jason Coats led all hitters with three hits.

The Frogs claimed the early lead as they picked up a run on two hits in the bottom of the second. Holaday led off the inning with a double down the left field line. A Woodruff sacrifice moved him to third and Coats gave the Frogs the 1-0 lead with a double to left.

San Diego State threatened in the third inning as the Aztecs got a lead-off double and walk. A fantastic play by TCU starter Paul Gerrish squashed the Aztec momentum as he made a diving catch in foul territory on a popped up sacrifice attempt for the first out of the inning. He retired the next two batters to strand the runners, preserving the 1-0 lead.

The Aztecs eventually gained the lead in the fourth as they took advantage of a Horned Frog error. With one out, Chris Wilson reached on an error and Cory Vaughn delivered a two-run home run over the left field fence for the 2-1 lead.

Two more Aztec runs crossed the plate in the fifth as they opened up a 4-1 lead. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Brandon Meredith snuck a two-run single through the left side to drive in two runs. After allowing the hit, Appleby fanned Erik Castro before getting Wilson to ground into the inning-ending double play.

The Frogs responded in a big way as they took advantage of an Aztec error and turned it into five runs, four of which were unearned. Ben Carruthers reached on an error and moved on to second with one out. Taylor Featherston singled up the middle to plate Carruthers and he scored on a triple off the bat of Matt Carpenter. Chris Ellington drove in Carpenter to tie the game at four.

Matt Curry kept the inning alive with a base hit to left center and scored on a long home run off the bat of Holaday to make it a 6-4 contest.

Appleby made the lead hold as he retired nine of the next 11 batters he faced through the eighth inning. In both the seventh and eighth innings, the Aztecs picked up a one-out single only to see the runner stranded on base.

The Frogs continued to add to their lead with a run in the sixth and a run in the eighth. Coats led off the seventh with a single and moved all the way to third on a beautifully executed slash play off the bat of Corey Steglich. Carruthers drove in Coats with a ground ball to third to make it a 7-4 contest.

In the eighth, another lead-off single by Coats turned into another run. This time an errant pick-off throw helped the Frogs score their eighth run of the game. A ground out put Coats on third with only one out and Carruthers again delivered the RBI as he hit a sacrifice fly to right for the 8-4 lead.

The Aztecs picked up an unearned run in the ninth to account for the final score.

Gerrish went four innings in his first start of the season. He allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Appleby (1-0) finished the game, allowing only an unearned run on three hits in five innings of work. He walked one and struck out five.

The Frogs improve to 15-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play. The rubber match of the series is slated for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday afternoon.